Hoffman: Dalhart's Stormy Wing puts together a good run

Stormy Wing of Dalhart earned $46,671 within a nine-day span at Professional Bull Riders shows in Chicago, Denver and Duluth, Ga.

Wing’s hot streak began on the weekend of Jan. 11 to 12 when he pocketed $13,550 after finishing third at the PBR’s Built Ford Tough Series tour stop in Chicago. Wing turned in scores of 82.25, 88.25 and 87 and finished with an three-ride aggregate score of 257.5. Brazilian Marco Eguchi won the Chicago show with a 259.5 and collected $34,185.

Three days later at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, Wing earned $27,871 after finishing as the event champion during the PBR’s Touring Pro Division Finals. Wing won the average/aggregate title after turning in scores of 88.5, 86 and 91. And as a result of winning that event Jan. 15, Wing advanced to the RFD-TV’s The American, a $2 million single-performance rodeo that’s scheduled for March 2 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

During the past weekend at the PBR’s Ford Series tour stop in Duluth, Ga., Wing, 24, a former PBR World Finals qualifier, finished eighth in the title race and left the Atlanta suburb with $5,250. Wing turned in scores of 87.5 and 85 in the first two rounds, but he was bucked off during the finals.

Veteran Sean Willingham clinched the title on Sunday and earned $34,950.

After finishing in the top 10 during the past two weekends in the Ford Series, which is the PBR’s world title race, Wing is ranked seventh in the BFTS standings with 1,162.75 points. Brazilian Fabiano Vieira is ranked No. 1 in the world race with 1,746.5.

Duluth was the third of 27 stops on the 2014 Built Ford Tough Series. This weekend, the tour will stop in Oklahoma City.

■ NFR update: The inaugural National Finals Rodeo was conducted in Dallas in 1959. And the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s championship show just might return to Dallas.

If the PRCA opts to move the NFR to Dallas when the contract is signed in 2015, the American Airlines Center would be the host venue, according to a report in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Earlier this month, a delegation from the PRCA conducted site visits to potential host cities and met with local organizing committees in Dallas, Austin and Orlando, Fla. The PRCA also negotiated with organizers in Las Vegas, which has hosted the NFR since 1985.

For the past 29 years, the Wrangler NFR has been conducted at the Thomas & Mack Center on the UNLV campus. It first became clear that this might be the last year Las Vegas would host the NFR when the PRCA Board of Directors voted (6-3) Dec. 15 to reject the terms of the financial offer from Las Vegas Events to extend the NFR contract past 2014. The PRCA Board voted only on the offer, but not on whether to leave Las Vegas.

Brett Hoffman, a Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame member, has written a rodeo column for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram over the past quarter-century.